


Photographic Memory

by afewmistakesago



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Awkward Conversations, College AU, F/M, Fluff, No Magic AU, modern day AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-01-14
Packaged: 2018-09-17 09:28:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9315479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afewmistakesago/pseuds/afewmistakesago
Summary: Belle sneaks a photo of the hot guy who sits across from her on the bus. Unfortunately for her, she was not sneaky and he totally noticed.





	

It was 7:30am on a Monday morning, and that meant Belle French was on the bus to get from her apartment to the center of the university’s campus. She’d arrive to her 8am exactly on time. It also meant that one stop after her, a handsome man would get on the bus, nod at her, and take the seat across from her. He would be dressed in a well-fit suit, and he’d read the newspaper, getting off one stop before hers. Not that she’d memorized his routine.

She smiled as he boarded, giving him half a wave and returning to her phone. She had her headphones in, nodding along to the playlist she’d made to wake herself up in the mornings. Ruby had texted her.  _ “He there?” _

_ “Of course. My silver fox.”  _ Belle replied, including a heart eyes emoji. It was a running story among her and her friend, that she had a crush on the mysterious man who sat across from her on the bus.

_ “I think he must be a myth,”  _ Ruby texted. 

Belle suppressed another smile as she glanced up at him. No, not a myth. His brow was furrowed as he read an article. He was older, with graying long hair. He was one of the few men she thought could pull the long hairstyle off. He had sharp, distinguished features that made him seem well-read. Belle felt her phone buzz again. Ruby had double texted.  _ “Picture or he’s not real!” _

Belle fidgeted, biting her lip. It’d be a bit odd to take a photo of a complete stranger, but she supposed she wasn’t doing anything bad with it, just sending it to her friend. She angled her phone carefully, waiting until the newspaper didn’t cover his face, and snapped a photo. Belle put her phone down quickly, feeling like she’d just done something illegal. Was it illegal to photograph people on a bus? She didn’t know, but clicked send to Ruby before enlarging the photo and taking a peek herself.

It wasn’t too blurry, but…  _ “Oh my god,” _ thought Belle,  _ “he’s looking right in the camera.” _

She felt her heart drop and her cheeks redden as she looked out the window, trying to avoid making eye-contact with the man who surely thought she was a creep now. Glancing down at her phone, she saw several messages in a row from Ruby.

_ “BELLE! He’s real!” _

_ “Oh my god, I know him” _

_ “Well, I don’t KNOW him but he goes to Starbucks a lot.” _

_ “Def a grad student or professor.” _

_ “He IS hot, though I wouldn’t have pegged him for your type.” _

_ “...And he’s definitely looking right in the camera.” _

Belle processed all of those messages at once. Ruby worked as a barista on campus and had talked to this man before. Plus, Ruby had noticed his direct gaze in the photo as well. “ _ I know,” _ she texted back.  _ “Too embarrassing. I’m not sneaky at all.” _

The bus ride that normally passed quickly seemed to be taking hours. She glanced over at what was normally the man’s stop and watched instead as he stayed in his seat. Belle caught his glance and he raised an eyebrow at her, as if inviting her to say something. Instead, she looked down at the floor, wondering why he’d missed his stop. 

In a few minutes, they were at Belle’s stop and she got off, avoiding looking at him. She felt him get up after her, surely to ask her why she had invaded his privacy. She turned to look at him, and sure enough, he had been about to tap on her shoulder.

“Look,” Belle said, her voice coming off more heated than she intended, heart pounding, “I’m sorry I took a photo of you, that was inappropriate of me. But I’ve been telling my friends all year about a hot guy on the bus every day, and one of them wanted proof, and that’s why I took the photo.”

“A hot guy on the bus?” he asked, looking confused. She noticed a slight accent to his voice, as if that didn’t make him any more perfect.

“Yes,” Belle said, exasperated. “Don’t make me say it again.”

“Are you sure you took a photo of the right man?”

Belle shifted, her arms crossed against her. “Yes.”

“Well,” he said, smiling a bit. “That’s rather flattering, actually.”

“Why did  _ you _ think I took your photo?” she asked.

“Figured it was one of those Snapchat things or that I’d be in the campus online newspaper tomorrow, with the headline being _ ‘exclusive photo of the one graduate student who refuses to give up reading the paper newspaper’ _ .”

“You wouldn’t like that, then?” Belle asked, feeling the mood change in their conversation. “Because I’ve got a friend on newspaper staff.”

He smirked. “No thanks, dear.”

She paused, unsure where to take the conversation next. She glanced at her phone, still in her hand. Belle decided to state the obvious. “I’m late for my 8am.”

“Skip it,” he said casually, shrugging. “If you want too.”

“I’ve never skipped before,” she said. Belle was probably the only senior in her graduating class that could say that.

“It’s a good day to try new things,” he said. “We could go to the coffee shop, if you wanted. Until your next class.”

He suggested it so easily, it seemed like a date. Belle didn’t even know this man’s name, or anything about him beyond the fact that he was a graduate student. Plus, the only thing he knew about her was that she thought he was hot. It was not the basis of a good relationship, though she supposed stranger things had brought people together before. She may as well get to know him, and if things went south…. She’d start driving to campus.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Belle asked, deciding to see if he was serious with his offer.

The man shook his head. “Nobody’s gonna show up to my office hours.”

Belle nodded. “I see. You take your duties very seriously.”

He rolled his eyes slightly, but she knew he could tell she was teasing. He looked in the direction of the Starbucks. “Do you want to go? I’m Cyrus Gold, by the way.”

“I’m Belle,” she said. “Belle French. And a coffee sounds lovely.”

Taking that photo may have been the stupidest thing Belle French had done, but it was also the most rewarding. 


End file.
